DA* 16-50mm Serial Number Database. - Page 27

Pentax_XTC · 08-26-2009, 09:52 AM

9023201 is good.
Got it from Adorama yesterday, and I'm loving it! I'm glad I took the chance on ordering it.

jmpentax · 08-28-2009, 12:06 PM

SN 9024992.

Good copy.

Purchased by eBay, seller DCTrade, location Hong Kong.

I don´t remember the date exactly, but could be during end of December 2008 and begining January 2009.

Lane · 08-30-2009, 03:44 PM

9028622 soft at all setting going back to BH for exchange

Olaf · 09-02-2009, 11:36 AM

9017046

Very sharp all over, colour rendition superb, as could be expected some vignetting at 16-20 mm, SDM kaput, but this is due to (my) K10D body failure, it works fine on other bodies. To all those who suffer similar fate, try reinstalling 1.30?

Oggy · 09-05-2009, 01:36 PM

I bought mine, s/n 9033928 new from SRS Microsystems in UK about two months ago. So far no problems apart fron the known limitations.

aybee · 09-06-2009, 10:10 AM

s/n 9028666

Should have known with a serial number ending with 666!
Purchased as a used item from LCE in London last Tuesday, no obvious centering defects, not sure on overall sharpness (I have the 16-45mm ).
I was going to give it a thorough test today but now the AF doesn't work; just a gentle 'tick' from the lens when attempting AF. I've cleaned the contacts to no avail.

So that's why they call it Sometimes Doesn't Move....

Edit:

But now back with a new SDM motor and it's a good 'un. Hope the replacement lens motor lasts for years....

PolishMike · 09-08-2009, 12:34 PM

My faulty 9028644 just came back from repairs. It seems it was a centering defect tht was causing the overall softness. After 2 months travelling around the globe things look much better.

Still, the sharpness at f/2.8 is worse than my FA 50mm at the same aperture, as I expected. In fact the Da* is comparable to the FA at f/1.4 - just a bit sharper with less CA. Sharpeness of the Da* at f/4.5 is about the same as the FA at 4.0.
Compared to the DA 18-55mm AL, the 16-50 wins by a sliver, but tiny variations in AF are enough that it wins some shots and loses others. I guess I'm a bit annoyed that even with the lens was fixed, I'm paying so much more for those extra stops of light, SDM and weathersealing rather than an improvement in image quality. Could someone with a good copy of the lens confirm whether this is the kind of performance I should be seeing?

singlespeed · 09-10-2009, 06:43 PM

I have 9023187 which I took delivery on 02-Sep-09 from Amazon.com. I haven't done the brick wall test yet, but my wife & daughter weren't impressed with those first photos! (brushed concrete, 4 focal ranges, 5 aperatures, focusing distance of approx. 2 feet)

They just couldn't believe I took 20 photos of concrete.

I have the slight resistance on the zoom ring at about 28mm - no biggie.

I ran a AF test and the results appear quite good - I will run the same test on bigger brother (DA*50-135) before I make a final decision on that. I noticed a bit of a "squeak" when the lens found the focus distance at first; but after a couple hours of use, this has improved.

I took some real world photos today and compared to a SMC PENTAX-M ZOOM 1:3.5 28mm~1:4.5 50mm. It was a good photo day, partly cloudywith lots of contrast, but the light conditions were changing fast (mostly sunny with fast moving cumulous clouds). This made comparison difficult in terms of color saturation & vibrancy, but in regards to sharpness, the DA* was a bit better than the M ZOOM. I plan to run some head to head tests with a SMC PENTAX-M 1:2.8 28mm & the SMC PENTAX-M 1:1.4 50mm soon.

I have seen some evidence of decentralization with the brushed concrete photos, but it is in the corners only. In landscape mode, the lower right corner is a softer than the other three corners. It is nothing even close to the 10 - 25% of the image being soft on one side or the other. I can also see some indication of decentralization when using a polarizing filter at the 16mm focal length - the vignetting is noticeable (and even) on both left hand corners, somewhat less in the lower right, and only slight in the upper right.

In regards to vignetting, I see more at 50mm than 16mm, but have run no quantitative tests as yet.

I think this thread scared me!

27 pages of horror stories with a few "I got a good one" thrown in there without much further comment. So far, I cautiously optimistic.

When I bought the K20D earlier this year paired with the DA*50-135, the photos were so good, sharp, & vibrant that I didn't even consider testing the lens in a thorough, quantitative way. When I started considering the purchase of the DA*16-50, I was hoping for that same quality. But, I felt that the quality history of the DA*16-50 really made it gamble to shell out the $700.

Lane · 09-17-2009, 06:14 PM

Received replacement 9028073.

This thing rocks. Now that I know what a good copy can do, a most impressive lens. As most have observed a bit soft wide open @ 16. but beyond that, having a tough time seeing a marked difference at 50 between this lens and my m50 1.7 at similar stops.

lane

PeterInVan · 09-26-2009, 07:03 PM

I got mine from Lens & Shutter in Vancouver in Dec. 07. About one month ago it failed to focus for the first time on my K20D.
Fresh battery helped get it back to life, but it has been sluggish ever since. I have cleaned the electrical contacts with a Q-tip and Deoxit contact cleaner. Helped a bit. Still very sluggish to auto focus.

I have voted to lobby Pentax for a menu option to go back to screw drive AF.

SN 9013629

little laker · 09-28-2009, 07:45 PM

Originally Posted by PeterInVan

I got mine from Lens & Shutter in Vancouver in Dec. 07. About one month ago it failed to focus for the first time on my K20D.
Fresh battery helped get it back to life, but it has been sluggish ever since. I have cleaned the electrical contacts with a Q-tip and Deoxit contact cleaner. Helped a bit. Still very sluggish to auto focus.

I have voted to lobby Pentax for a menu option to go back to screw drive AF.

SN 9013629

Peter, Doesn't Pentax Canada offer a 2 year warranty on their products

With my estimation you still have a couple of months left, so why not bring it back to Lens & Shutter.
At least here in Kelowna they're pretty good people, who would try their best to help you

big red · 09-30-2009, 09:17 PM

bought mine on 10- Aug-07 SN 9014067 BAD
mine is sharp and has worked great but SDM has failed
works fine on screw drive.

clover · 10-06-2009, 02:05 AM

Mine is ok, it was replaced by the pentax support after an 901**** has his SDM making some noises but still work then
SN 9029083

*clfile* · 10-13-2009, 06:02 PM

bought mine on amazon 09/30/09, SN# 9030941. it's a good copy.

Burgerbrater · 10-14-2009, 08:58 PM

Hello Everyone,

what week. Some of you (like Ash) might already know that I got the 16-50mm now too. However the first one (9027713) didnt focus at all motor was broken. Returned it. The second one (9023188) was fast and smooth however this time the bottom of the the images were completely soft. Not good. Returned it. Now I got the third lens of this kind and I would kindly ask you guys to take a look at my samples that I took and uploaded. Again the right hand side of all images seems very soft. Too soft in my opinion but I wanted to get your opinion as well. Please take a look, you would really really help me in my descision if I should return this one as well.

Thank you,

Alex

Picasa Web Albums - Alex Pentax User NY - 4rd lens test